1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to play balls for use by pre-school and very young children who are incapable of handling conventional athletic balls, and more particularly to a play ball whose shape and external appearance are similar to those of a conventional athletic ball but whose physical characteristics are such as to render the ball safe and usable by a small child.
2. Status of Prior Art
Athletic playing balls fall into two distinct classes, one of which covers balls of the air-inflated type such as footballs, soccer balls, volley balls and basketballs. The second class encompasses balls having solid cores such as baseballs and hardballs. But regardless of its class, a conventional athletic ball is not suitable or safe for pre-school and very young children, particularly for indoor play.
Thus, a conventional inflated soccer ball has physical characteristics appropriate to a game in which the ball is to be kicked or thrown by the player and must have a high degree of bounce so that it can rebound from the ground or from the head of a player. A standard inflated soccer ball has a spherical shape and is provided with an outer cover of thick, heavy leather or plastic material. While an adult may not regard a soccer ball as being heavy, it represents a substantial load to a small child.
It is known that air-inflated athletic balls such as volleyballs and basketballs tend to produce a "hand sting" which arises when the ball which has a relatively hard casing is caught by a bare hand while moving at high velocity, or is struck by the hand of the player as when playing volleyball. To overcome this drawback, the Barton et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,256,019 incorporates cushioning in the outer casing of the inflated ball. But such cushioning does not reduce the weight of the ball or alter its basic physical characteristics.
While small children are attracted to conventional athletic balls and enjoy watching adults play soccer, football and other ball games, in the hands of a small child these athletic balls are heavy and dangerous, especially in indoor play.
The standard inflated athletic ball has a relatively large diameter and a smooth, hard outer casing which makes it very difficult for a small child to grasp, throw and catch. And because a standard ball is highly bounceable, should the child play with the ball at home or in an indoor playground, the bouncing ball is likely to break windows and cause a great deal of damage to any fragile object.
The toy and game industry has long recognized the need for a lighter, softer and potentially less dangerous ball for young children. Thus, balls in various shapes and sizes are now commercially available which are molded of polyurethane foam material and other lightweight compressible plastics. While such balls are safe in the hands of pre-school children and will inflict no harm even if the ball is hurled toward the body of another child, they fail in many respects to satisfy the typical child's desire for a ball that looks like a real athletic ball of the type used by adults, and is not an unconvincing substitute therefor.
To give a simple analogy, children enjoy playing with toy guns whose form and general appearance simulate those used in actual combat. But if a child were given a stick and told to pretend that this was a gun, he would not enjoy playing cops and robbers. By the same token, a small child who would like to play with a baseball wishes to have a ball that at least looks like a baseball, even if the ball is very soft and lacks those physical properties of a standard baseball which render the ball hazardous to children.
In an attempt to satisfy this requirement, the Massino U.S. Pat. No. 4,241,918 discloses a ball having the general appearance of a conventional football, but is softer and lighter and does not travel as far when thrown or kicked by young children who are susceptible to injury with a conventional football. The ball is composed of an inner core formed of polyester batting fill, a wool batting interior cover and a double knit fabric outer cover. Hence in the Massino patent, the casing is of fabric construction and does not have the feel or appearance of the leather or smooth plastic casing found in standard play balls.